Man faces prison time for meth

A 33-year-old Hungry Horse man pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine during a federal court session in Missoula on Wednesday.

Nicholas James Moskaloff faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and maximum of 40 years of incarceration and a $2 million fine.

 He’s scheduled to be sentenced April 20 and is currently in federal custody.

Moskaloff was arrested by Montana Division of Criminal Investigation agents in July 2010 after selling between 326 and 565 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant, according to an offer of proof by U.S. Attorney Timothy Racicot.

Agents monitored Moskaloff on July 21, 2010, in a Kalispell parking lot where he sold one gram of the narcotic to the informant.

According to an offer of proof, Moskaloff was on his way home from a urinalysis test mandated by the conditions of his probation for a prior offense.

While searching Moskaloff’s Hungry Horse home, officers seized two digital scales, a small amount of marijuana, packaging materials and cash. Seventeen firearms and ledgers with written records of drug deals  also were found, according to an offer of proof.

At the time of his arrest, Moskaloff was on probation for a 2009 conviction for possession of a firearm by a user/addict of a controlled substance.

He was arrested Feb. 26, 2006, by Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies who saw him shoot a firearm from his vehicle and later found marijuana and a pipe in his front pocket, according to court records.

Reporter Eric Schwartz may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at eschwartz@dailyinterlake.com.